Raymond C. LaPerche Elementary School

Today, LaPerche kindergarten, first and second graders enjoyed hearing from a local author and illustrator, Jill Austin. Jill has written seven books and read two of them to us today. Students enjoyed singing the word and acting out the books. Each class received a copy of each book to add to their classroom library! We can’t wait to have Jill back again!

Second graders build fluency by practicing adding to 100 using different strategies. Partners played Close to 100. They role two die and have to choose which two digit number to create. Then, roll again and add them together and try to get a total close to 100 without going over. The student closest to 100 wins that round! They each have 2-4 rolls to get there.

Today LaPerche was a sea of pink! The staff and students all wore pink to show our support for all who have battled and continue to battle cancer. The students and some staff also participated in a whole school PINK OUT PLANK challenge! Way to go LaPerche!

The LaPerche Pumpkin Spooktacular and Movie Night is tomorrow night, Friday, October 25 starting at 6:00 and the pumpkins have started to arrive at school. LaPerche students and families are certainly creative! Can’t wait to see what arrives tomorrow!

COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS: Join us for a community meeting on Tuesday, October 22nd from 6:30 - 8:00 PM in the Smithfield High School Auditorium for a presentation from the Anti-Defamation League’s A World of Difference® Institute.

5th grade students used flats, rods and units to understand the process of division and then checked their work with the inverse operation of multiplication. Students used a variety of strategies to solve the problems and show their work!

The Local Food Ambassador program returned to LaPerche Tuesday, October 15 during lunch thanks to our food service provider Chartwells! During lunch, students were invited to try a dish that contained 12 different ingredients. They could smell and taste it and work as a table to determine as many ingredients as possible. Many students enjoyed the Kale and Mesclun Salad with Orange Honey Mustard Dressing and ate the whole serving! Many students asked for the recipe to make with their families. Ask your child if they participated and what ingredients they were able to discover! The goals of the program are to ....give students the opportunity to try nutritious foods, maybe for the first time! ....encourage young people to enjoy fruits and vegetables from an early age. ...create fun and memorable experiences and positive food environments. ....help build community among food service providers, families, school staff, and the students!

Green Out for Noah-Friday, October 11--Students and Faculty are encouraged to dress all in green to show our support for our wonderful fifth grader, Noah Antunes, who is battling and WINNING the fight against Burkitt’s disease. If interested, we are collecting donations that day all of which will go to Noah’s family to offset the cost of the medical treatments. If you would like to write a check, please make it out to LaPerche PTA. Thank you!

Lost and Found is GROWING! Do any of these items belong to your child? Tell your child to check the stage in the cafeteria where Lost and Found is stored!

Thank you to the Smithfield firefighters who visited LaPerche yesterday. They talked to the students about the importance of knowing what to do in a fire. One of the firefighters put on all of the gear they wear when they fight fires. They wanted the kids to see the sights and hear the sounds they would see in a fire. They wanted to make sure the kids don’t hide from them and instead call out in a fire. Student volunteers demonstrated how to stop, drop and roll. One important piece of the STOP portion is covering your face with your hands. The kids were reminded to crawl out of a room with smoke and were challenged to plan AND PRACTICE an escape route at home. Show your child the pictures and talk about your evacuation route today!

Does your car need washing? Come on out to the 5th grade car wash happening RIGHT NOW at Fast Freddie’s at 471 Putnam Pike in Smithfield. All proceeds will benefit the 5th grade at LaPerche! Thank you for your support!

Please join us for an Elementary Wellness Workshop by Tri County Community Action Agency. The event is taking place on Tuesday, October 8 at 6:30 in Smithfield High School library. Learn helpful tips for: -Building Resiliency -Promoting Mental Health -Navigating Cell Phones, Social Media and Technology -Starting the conversation about substance abuse Please register by clicking on this link. https://forms.gle/NW5q1qXJZV3V2iSp6

In Mrs. Caswell’s class yesterday, students passed Pete the Cat to indicate whose turn it was to share about their weekend. Sharing and speaking in front of the group is one part of the Responsive Classroom morning meeting. We heard about friends visiting grandparents, going apple picking, playing with friends and finding the perfect pumpkin with a spiky stem. Kindergarten at LaPerche rocks!

Ms. Clough’s class played Guess My Number during their Responsive Classroom morning meeting yesterday. A number was written on a sticky note and placed on a student’s back for all to see. The student could ask the class questions to help him determine the number. Does it have a 2 in it? Is it a two digit number? Does it have a three in it? Ms. Clough showed a 100’s chart so the student could use it to think about the possible numbers. After 8 questions, the student guessed the number. Way to go!

Kindergarten celebrated Johnny Appleseeds birthday with a fun filled day of apple activities! Students participated in apple themed Reading, math, and science centers. In Mrs. Caswell’s class, at the literacy center students worked as a team to match upper and lowercase letters. Then they worked to put the apples in alphabetical order. At the art center students created ripped paper apples with colorful construction paper. At the group math activity students worked as a team to sort apples based on the image on each apple. They worked to match the images to the numeral on each apple basket. At the independent math table students worked on dabbing apples on top of animals in response to reading Ten Apples Up on Top. They had to count their “apples” to match the written numeral. Students also enjoyed slicing apples in the morning for our homemade applesauce.

Kindergarten celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s birthday with a fun filled day of apple activities! Students participated in apple themed reading, math, and science centers. In Mrs. Friel’s class, at science center, students cut open an apple horizontally to see the star that is found inside. They then used the apples to paint! At reading and art center, students read and illustrated Johnny Appleseed informational books and created Apple art projects. At math center, students played a math game to see how many apples they had on their head to go along with the book Ten Apples Up on Top. In the afternoon, students tasted their homemade applesauce and participated in an Apple tasting and graphed their results. Mrs. Caswell’s coming next!

Thank you Cardoso Family for the Random Act of Kindness—Delicious calzones for the LaPerche Staff!!

During fifth grade art class today, students worked on adding secret symbols about themselves into their multi media self portraits. Final products coming soon!

Reading Conferences in Fourth Grade- Mr. Medeiros introduces reading conferences to the students and models the process with a student. The teacher and student discuss the student’s short and long term reading goals and then she reads aloud so Mr. Medeiros can hear her fluency. He follows it up with questions to check for understanding. The rest of the class observes the conference and then were asked what did you notice about the conference. The students notice that the student read loud enough for the teacher to hear but quiet enough not to disturb the rest of the class. They notice that she was able to read almost all of the words so it was a just right book. Now everyone is excited for their own reading conferences! Teaching routines specifically allows for more instruction time for all.

Mr. Silvia, Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Serapigla from the American Legion visited with the whole school at Morning Meeting and then spent time with our fifth graders today. In addition to showing the kids the proper way to fold a flag, discussed a variety of topics and shared: *when multiple flags are flown, the American flag must be at the center and at the highest point *if a flag touches a ground, it’s a common misconception that it has to be burned, just dust it off *if a flag needs to be destroyed, bring it to the American legion and they burn it at a ceremony on June 14, Flag Day *if a flag is flown at night, shine a light on it *flags are flown at half mast when certain people pass away *the thirteen stripes are for thirteen colonies and 50 stars for 50 states